Big Brother gives struggling boy a path to college

April 22, 2013

Updated Sept. 2, 2014 11:40 p.m.

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Julio, 16, of Santa Ana and his "Big Brother," Richard Tripp, 62, of Westminster, enjoy a ride on the Ferris wheel at the Balboa Fun Zone. Tripp, a retired financial consultant, was recently named Big Brother of the Year for the state of California. MICHAEL GOULDING, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Julio and Richard Tripp enjoy a ride on the Ferris wheel at the Balboa Fun Zone. Tripp, a retired financial consultant, has been Big Brother to the 16-year-old for 8 1/2 years. MICHAEL GOULDING, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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"Big Brother" Richard Tripp and Julio, 16, of Santa Ana often visit the Balboa Pier to watch the skim boarders and grab something to eat. MICHAEL GOULDING, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Julio and his "Big Brother," Richard Tripp, 62, Westminster, often spend time at the Balboa Pier. Tripp, a retired financial consultant, has been Big Brother to the 16-year-old for 8 1/2 years. MICHAEL GOULDING, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Julio and his "Big Brother," Richard Tripp, 62, enjoy visiting the Balboa Fun Zone on Newport Harbor. Tripp of Westminster was recently named Big Brother of the Year for the state of California. MICHAEL GOULDING, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Julio, 16, of Santa Ana and his "Big Brother," Richard Tripp, 62, of Westminster, enjoy a ride on the Ferris wheel at the Balboa Fun Zone. Tripp, a retired financial consultant, was recently named Big Brother of the Year for the state of California. MICHAEL GOULDING, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

He was playing with his baby sister when a loud man with shiny brown shoes walked into Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County and shook his hand: "So, this is the guy that I've been excited to finally meet!"

Julio's eyes shot to the ground and he chirped a single word: "Hi."

He'd always been the boy nobody wanted.

His dad ran off. Other kids teased him. At school, he was put in special-ed classes.

Even at Big Brothers Big Sisters no one ever picked him.

Who wanted a 7-year-old with a limp? A speech impediment? Fear of his own shadow?

Why?he wondered, as the man introduced himself as Richard Tripp.Why pick me over boys who can run and shout and laugh?

Over the next few years, Tripp would wonder the same thing.

•••

Their first outing did not go well.

Tripp bought second-row seats to an Angels' game.

For years, Tripp loved nothing better than piling his son Steven and his pals into the station wagon and driving them to some game. Any game. Little League. Pony League. High School. Angels, Dodgers, Padres.

When Steven left for college, says Tripp, 62, of Westminster, "I had a big hole in my life."

Tripp's mom urged him to become a Big Brother.

"Actually," he says, "she badgered me. She'd say, 'There's a young man somewhere that deserves to have the magic of Richard Tripp in his life. Go out there and find him and make a difference.' "

So he did. When Big Brothers gave Tripp a choice of three boys, he chose the 7-year-old Santa Ana boy with cerebral palsy.

Why?

"I like a challenge," he says.

Julio recalls their first outing this way: "My stomach felt as if someone grabbed my insides and twisted them."

He'd never seen a baseball game. Knew nothing about the Angels. Was unimpressed with second-row seats.

Before the first inning ended, he tapped Tripp on the shoulder:Can we leave?

So much for the magic of Richard Tripp.

•••

Such was life with Julio.

He grew up with a loving mom but in a cruel world.

"Kids would point and laugh at me," he says, in a voice that at times is still hard to understand. "I guess it made me feel like I was an alien."

Because Julio could barely read, Tripp bought the boy books and read to him until he became an avid reader.

Because Julio limped, Tripp took him to the track and pretended to talk to the ground when Julio fell:Why did you trip my good friend Julio? That's not nice... Until Julio eventually competed in a half-marathon.

With Tripp, Julio saw his first ballgame, his first movie, his first restaurant with menus, his first elevator.

Along the way, Tripp instilled life lessons: When they left a movie theater, they carried out their trash. When they left a self-serve restaurant, they cleaned the table and pushed in their chairs. When they saw an errant shopping cart in a parking lot, they returned it.

Simple things. And less simple things.

Tripp took the boy to ring the Salvation Army bell for donations at Christmas. Took the boy to the American Cancer Society to make donations. Took the boy to Walmart to buy school supplies for underprivileged kids.

"Give back to others"– Tripp didn't just preach it; he practiced it with the boy.

And that wasn't all he taught his Little Brother.

•••

Tripp himself was inspired a decade ago by a preacher's wife – an attorney who gave up her practice to teach the children of Fallbrook avocado pickers.

She ran the program out of Tripp's church, so he volunteered. And learned a lesson he'd never forgot.

There's one way to break the cycle of poverty, she used to say: Education.

Get them into college, he says, repeating her words.There, they'll find a like-minded spouse, become productive citizens and raise children of their own who'll go to college.

The change will ripple from individual to family to neighborhood.

Tripp saw it work. That's why he pushed Julio to study and study and study.

Soon, the boy once bullied for his limp was rising at 5:30 a.m. each day to take two city buses to school, 90 minutes each way. The boy once teased for his speech impediment was walking a mile and a half to the city library to use its computer. The boy once put in special-education classes was studying five to six hours a night.

Last semester, Julio took advanced placement English, advanced placement psychology and advanced placement U.S. history, and honors classes in math, French and chemistry.

No one in his family had ever graduated from college. Julio intended to be the first.

But his family couldn't afford a car. How could they afford college?

•••

Last year, Julio applied for a local scholarship offered by the Simon Foundation.

"Want me to write a letter of recommendation? Tripp asked.

No, said Julio.They only want them from teachers.

Tripp wrote one anyway – and made several copies.

"When the panel asks if you have anything more to say, hand them this," he told the boy.

Julio did. The letter told Julio's story and concluded: "He has the heart of a lion ... I could not be more proud of Julio ... if he was my own son."

Since then, the two have spoken to business leaders and others telling their story. Tripp was named Orange County Big Brother of the Year and California Big Brother of the Year (among 10,000 Big Brothers in the state).

From time to time, Julio looks up to Tripp and asks:How can I repay you?

"Invite me to your college graduation," Tripp says. "And become a Big Brother."

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County has more than 200 children on its waiting list. Contact them at: 714-544-7773

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